Study: Breast Implants hinder cancer detection, increase death risk

(GANNETT) -- According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, breast implants do not cause a problem for mothers hoping to breastfeed their children.

"There have been no recent reports of clinical problems in infants of mothers with silicone breast implants," a post on the CDC's official website notes. "Researchers noted that silicon is present in higher concentrations in cow's milk and infant formula than in human milk expressed from mothers with silicone breast implants."

But while children aren't necessarily at risk from implants, their mothers might be. A new study has found that breast implants increase a woman's chances of dying from cancer.

According to a group of Canadian researchers, implants make it harder for the cancer to be detected in its earlier stages because of the shadows they cast in mammograms.

In order to reach their conclusion, the team poured over data collected from 12 different studies that represented women not only from Canada, but from the United States and northern Europe as well, the Times of India is reporting.

The researchers reportedly found that women who had undergone breast augmentation were 26 percent more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer in later stages of the disease than women without implants.

"[T]he accumulating evidence suggests that women with cosmetic breast implants who develop breast cancer have an increased risk of being diagnosed as having non-localized breast tumors more frequently than do women with breast cancer who do not have implants," study authors were quoted as saying.

Five additional studies reviewed by the team found that risk of death from breast cancer was also increased 38 percent because of the effects of implants on the screening process.

Researchers additionally noted that the results of their study "should be interpreted with caution as some studies included in the meta-analysis on survival did not adjust for potential confounders [sic]."